Falcons Battle in CUW Open

MEQUON, Wis. – The CUW wrestling team hosted the 26th annual CUW Wrestling Open, bringing in over 250 wrestlers from across the nation.

The Falcons started a day full of wrestling at nine in the morning for the first round of bouts.  

In the 133-pound weight class, the Falcons had three wrestlers in the championship bracket. 

Junior Gabe Rodriguez (Las Vegas, Nev.) lost the first round of the bracket with an 11-7 decision. In the consolation bracket, Rodriguez took the first bout by an 8-2 decision but dropped the second to a 10-3 decision.

Another Falcon to compete in the 133-pound weight class was freshman Corey Bagby (Salem, N.J.). 

Bagby fell in the first round in a time of 2:08. In the consolation bracket, Bagby took on fellow Falcon Austin Vincent, a senior from Stockton, Illinois. While in the championship bracket, Vincent took his first matchup by 18-0 tech fall but dropped his second round by 7-3 decision. Vincent beat Bagby in a CUW dual by tech fall and continued onto the consolation championship quarterfinals after a 6-1 decision. Vincent was defeated by a 3-0 decision in the quarterfinals.

In the 141-pound weight class, the Falcons had three more wrestlers compete. Sophomore Emilio Acosta (El Paso, Texas), senior Val Kochiu (Oak Creek, Wis.), and freshman Bryce Rowley (Rifle, Colo.) all competed in the championship bracket at 141 pounds. In his first round, Acosta fell with a time of 2:48. In the consolation bracket, Acosta was eliminated by a major decision at 10-0.

Kochiu took his first two matchups in the championship bracket with two decisions at 4-1 and 5-4. 

Kochiu was eliminated from the championship bracket by 1:57 fall before the quarterfinals. Kochiu was eliminated in the consolation bracket by a 4-2 sudden victory.

Rowley was knocked into the consolation bracket by a 17-0 tech fall in his first bout and was knocked out of the consolation bracket by an 8-4 decision.

Freshman Bryce Claypool (Morris, Ill.) and sophomore Lucas Regnier (Bradley, Ill.) competed in the 149-pound weight class. Claypool faced off his first bout and was knocked out of the championship bracket by an 8-2 decision. Regnier won his first bout by 3:39 fall but was knocked out by a 14-4 major decision in the next round.  

Claypool won his first two bouts in the consolation bracket by 17-0 and 18-0 tech falls but was pinned in 2:08 in the next. Regnier took a 2:44 fall in his first consolation matchup but lost by a 10-6 decision in his second round.

Junior Jack O'Donnell (Huntington Beach, Calif.) had some success in the 157-pound weight class. O'Donnell took his first matchup by 3:00 fall, his second by 18-0 tech fall, and his third by 4:30 fall. In the semifinals, he fell in 4:14. O'Donnell went on to win the fifth-place matchup with a 0:40 fall.

Two Falcons competed in the 165-pound weight class. Sophomore Adler Henn (Milwaukee, Wis.) fell in 1:25 to be sent to the consolation bracket where he was eliminated by 13-1 major decision. Junior Quinn Hoopman (Cedar Grove, Wis.) won his first bout by 5:42 fall. He went on to lose to a 6-4 decision in his second championship bracket bout. In the consolation bracket, Hoopman took his first matchup by 11-2 major decision but dropped the next round by 11-8 decision.

Junior Carson Cook (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Peyton Smith (Milwaukee, Wis.) took on the 174-pound weight class. Cook made it to the quarterfinals after a 1:14 fall and a 21-2 tech fall went his way. 

In the quarterfinals, Cook fell in 3:35. 

He went on to be eliminated in the consolation bracket by a 6-1 decision in his first bout. Smith took his first bout with a 1:57 fall but was taken down by a 6:41 fall in the next round. He won his first bout in consolation by fall in 2:48 but was eliminated by a 9-0 major decision in the next round.

In the 184-pound weight class, the Falcons had senior Noah Hardy (McMurray, Pa.) and junior Alexandros Alexiades (Oswego, Ill.) competing. Both Falcons lost by fall in the first round with times of 5:36 and 0:52 respectively. Hardy was eliminated from the consolation bracket by another fall in 1:34 while Alexiades took his first bout by an 8-4 decision. He was knocked out of the consolation bracket by a 0:24 fall the next round.

Junior Dalton Sell (Muscatine, Iowa) competed in the 197-pound weight class. Sell took his first bout by 18-0 tech fall, but dropped a 23-2 tech fall in the next round. In the consolation bracket, Sell fell in 4:25 in the opening round.

In the heavyweight, 285-pound weight class, sophomore Cam Mercer (Glenview, Ill.) took his first bout by fall in 2:12 but then fell in 1:21 in the next round. He had some success in the consolation bracket when he made it to the semifinals after an 8-7 decision and a 2:32 fall. He was eliminated in the semifinals by a 1:14 fall.

The Falcons return to the mats on December fourth as they compete at the MSOE Invitational.